ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines some of the critiques of hate crime and criminal justice, uses these to critically explore how imaginings of Brighton were active constituents in policing and safety initiatives. It explores LGBT partnership working with statutory services, and highlights the histories and ongoing tensions of working with and from within. The chapter outlines the long and fraught histories of conflict, mistrust and failures that constituted LGBT safety initiatives in the city at the turn of the century. It shows how spaces for partnership working remained fragile, uncomfortable and contested. Relations between LGBT communities, the police and the local authority-run Partnership Community Safety Team demonstrate the disparate way in which safety was enacted and partnerships operationalised and contested. The chapter concludes with a vision from Spectrum, the LGBT community forum, that outlines how 'safety' might be more broadly addressed in community and practitioner contexts suggesting tangible, if idealistic, ways forward.
